Picture holder



Apr-i128, 1942. 4.. SMITH 2,281,054

PICTURE HOLDER Filed March 51, 1941 [amen/021s A12 dr Gina/72 #LZLO Ba/zca Patented Apr. 28, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PICTURE HOLDER Andre Smith and Attilio Banca, Maitland, Fla.

Application March 31, 1941, Serial No. 386,053

1 Claim.

This invention relates to means for temporarily hanging prints, etchings, water-colors and the like in art galleries, the show-rooms of art dealers,andsimilar situations. For the sake of brevity, we shall hereinafter use the term "print to denote any picture that is not mounted upon a rigid support.

A collection of prints, after having been displayed in a given gallery or sales-room, is often shipped to another gallery or dealer for exhibition. Such temporary exhibitions give rise to various practical problems. The use of picture frames of the conventional type is impracticable because of the expense of construction, packing and shipment and the expense and trouble of mounting and removing the print. It should be possible for the dealer to remove the print with ease, in order that a purchaser may take away the print without delay. The means used for mounting and displaying the print should be devoid of fastenings that penetrate or otherwise mar the print or its temporary mat. It is, of course, essential that the appearance of the display means shall not detract from the print, but, on the contrary, shall set 011 the picture to good advantage. These desiderata have not heretofore been attained with any measure of success.

The object of this invention is to provide means for temporarily displaying prints upon the wall of a sales-room or art gallery, which shall satisfy the practical requirements hereinbefore stated.

In the accompanying drawing, which illustrates one embodiment of our invention, Figure l is a perspective view of a print displayed by means of our holder. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view,

showing the holder suspended upon a wall, the normal position of the parts being represented in full lines, and the operation of removing the print being indicated in dotted lines. Fig. 3 is a fragmental face view, illustrating a detent for holding the parts in normal position. Fig, 4 is a similar view of one of the two sockets provided to support the print and the cover glass. Fig. 5 is a fragmental rear view, showing a device for suspending the holder on the wall.

The holder comprises a rectangular panel I of plywood or any other inexpensive, light-weight material possessing sufiicient rigidity. On the face of the panel and near the lower corners thereof are two sockets 2. These sockets are preferably formed of thin sheet-metal, so that the securing portion 3 thereof shall project but slightly from the face of the panel. (In Fig. 2 the thickness of all sheet-metal parts is necessarily exaggerated.) The sockets are adapted to receive the lower edge of a rectangular coverplate 4, of glass or other transparent material. The plate 4 corresponds in shape to the panel, but is preferably shorter and narrower, the sockets 2 being so located on the panel that the coverplate may be supported with its edges spaced uniformly from the edges of the panel.

In Figs. 1 and 2, the letter P denotes an un mounted print or a print mounted on a thin, flexible temporary mat. The lower edge of the print is intended to rest in the sockets 2 behind the plate 4, the print being held fiat against the panel I by means of said plate. To secure the plate against the print, and the latter against the panel, we employ a detent 5 engaging the middle portion of the upper edge of the plate. While the detent may be of any preferred construction adapted to be manipulated with the fingers, we have herein illustrated a slide 6 formed of thin sheet-metal, the upper end of the slide having a hook I to fit over the upper edge of the plate 4. The slide 6 is mounted to slide up and down by means of a sheet-metal guide 8 attached to the face of the panel.

Those portions of the panel which extend beyond the edges of the print constitute the practical equivalent of a mat for the picture. To this end, these portions (or, if preferred, the entire face of the panel) are painted White to simulate a mat. The white margin of the panel sets off the print to advantage.

When a print is framed for permanent display, it is customary to provide a mat of substantial thickness. In many instances, parallel lines surrounding the picture are drawn upon the mat to enhance the beauty of the whole. In the use of our holder, the edges of the plate 4 and the edges of the print or its temporary mat produce the appearance of such parallel lines.

The panel may be provided with any suitable means for suspending it upon the wall. Herein we have shown two suspending loops 9 attached to the back of the panel.

As herein illustrated, the long dimension of the holder extends horizontally, but it will be understood that the sockets 2, the detent 5 and the suspending means 9 may be so located on the panel that the long dimension of the latter shall extend vertically. The dealer or institution may have on hand a number of holders of the horizontal and vertical types of various sizes.

When a print is to be displayed, the slide 6 is pushed up until the hook I is above the edge of the plate 4, as indicated in dotted lines in Figs. 2 and 3. The plate 4 is then tilted forward to provide a space into which the print may be dropped until the lower edge of the print comes to rest in the sockets 2. The plate 4 is then swung back against the print and. secured in such position by lowering the slide 6 until the hook I engages the upper edge of the plate, as shown in full lines in Figs. 1 and 2.

When the print is to be removed for delivery to a purchaser, or for packing and shipment to another gallery, only a moment's time is required to release it from the holder.

It will be observed that it is not necessary to remove the holder from the wall in order to insert or remove a print.

The inexpensive nature of the holder, the ease with which a print may be mounted for display and subsequently removed, the absence of fastenings that might mar the print, and the attractive mat effect produced by the white margins of the panel constitute an improvement over all devices heretofore available for the purpose.

Where it is preferred to support pictures upon a wall by means of a rail or narrow shelf attached to the wall, it will be understood that the holder may stand upon the rail and lean against the wall.

We claim as our invention:

A mat-simulating device for the temporary display of a print, said device comprising a relatively thin, rectangular, plane panel, a rectangular transparent plate which is narrower and shorter than the panel, two open-end sockets on the face of the panel, one near each of the lower corners of the panel, for removably supporting the lower edge of the plate so that the plate may be tilted to swing the upper portion thereof away from the panel for the insertion of a print in the space between the panel and the plate, wit u the lower edge of the print resting in said sockets} or the removal of the print from such space, said sockets projecting but slightly beyond the plane of the panel, and means on the face of the panel which is movable by the fingers down into engagement with the midportion of the upper edge of the plate to hold the plate against the print and the print against the panel, said lastmentioned means being movable upwardly to release the plate and the print, the four marginal plane portions of the panel which project beyond the edges of the print and the edges of the transparent plate being exposed to view and painted white to simulate an unframed picturemat.

ANDRE SMITH.

ATTILIO BANCA. 

